Myth Weavers is pleased to announce the Dungeons & Dragons Create a Villain Contest! Members may create a villain using any edition of the Dungeons & Dragons rules, and the final entries will be voted on by the community.

First place wins a new copy of the Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition Players Handbook!

The contest runs from July 1 to July 31, and voting will then run from August 1 through August 7. The winner will be announced on August 8 and contacted via PM. Contest details and directions may be found HERE!

The upgrade was a success! Please let me know in Site Discussion if anything has gone awry!

Hero... or Villain?

I bought the Mutants and Masterminds 1e rulebook, and I have decided to run a large game on here. The story is simple: There is no story. Everything you do has consequences, and the entire game is based on those consequences and how you interact with the other beings in Freedom City.

"It all started with the light... For years, the city has been under the rule of either the cops or the gangs. Either you were a law-abiding citizen, helping the police with whatever they happened to be doing, or else you were with the gangs. And unfortunately, that's what most teens did. Instead of following the laws, most of them were pressured into serving the gangs, and crime skyrocketed. And then... the light came. No one knows what caused it... Some people say that it was a chemical explosion, some say it was a nuke that didn't happen right, and some even say aliens... but whatever it was, suddenly teenage and young adult gangsters woke up one morning with superpowers. And I'm not talking about a few. I'm talking about DOZENS. Within a week, the cops were overwhelmed, and they retreated to the downtown sector, holding it as best they could. And to their credit, they've kept downtown safe for some time... But, yesterday... The light struck again, and tomorrow morning, everyone knows that there will be even more superhumans..."

There is only one thing to keep in mind here: I do NOT like the damage save ruling. Therefore, I will be using the HP ruleset that can be found on pages 130-131. Other rulesets may come into play later on, but for now, just replace your Damage Save with your HP. All characters will be Power Level 1, with 15 power points. You may use ONE weakness, but only if absolutely necessary. You may only use powers and rules found in the Core Rulebook, as well.

A freeform Mutants and Masterminds game. Instead of following a series of silly encounters and stories, the heroes will be able to patrol and fight criminals on their own, going solo in the largest city in the world! But not only are there heroes, there are also villians who have only one plan... taking over the world! (Of course!)

Will you be a hero, fighting the many villians of Freedom City... or a villian, hellbent on taking it over?

Well, what are you having doubts about? Also, without getting into the process of writing a backstory or anything, what can your character do? The easiest way to know how to build a character is knowing more or less what their schtick is. A Batmanlike character builds veeeeeeeeeeeeery differently from a Spiderman, and both of them are so different when compared to a Superman as a Fighter is to a Wizard or a ninja pirate to a zombie robot. :P

A young kid who's parents were killed by the gangs a little time after the first burst of light. He is working at his uncles bar, putting himself through medical school.
Sort of a mix between gadgeteer and weaponmaster (leaning towards weaponsmaster). He uses a bow. sort of similar to green arrow, but more normal. I am trying not to overbuild him in my mind, because i dont know the system well enough yet

Weaponmaster? Excellent. That's actually my most played archetype, so I can help pretty well with that.

First off, the most important thing: Tradeoff feats. No matter how you might want to build the character (attack-shifted, damage-shifted, toughness-shifted...more on that in a second), take All-Out Attack and Power Attack. The other two tradeoff feats are just nice bonuses that might or mightn't fit your playstyle, but those two let you control your character's power like nothing else can, letting you hit an enemy when it counts and do so hard. Hell, I'd even go as far to suggest they're the closest thing to mandatory picks in MnM's whole system, but the existence of Perception effects makes it so it isn't completely true.

Anyway, once you have those, let's get back to the basics. The first thing you have to decide is the character's focus: Do you want a "peak human" kind of character with lots of raw talent but kinda green on the field? A kid who's trained hard to overcome the disadvantage of still growing up? Or a smart guy who compliments his own skills with a few choice gadgets and improvements? Essentially, Stats, Feats, or Powers (AKA Devices if you want a human guy)? Stats are more versatile but less powerful when you need something in particular (good scores can make you an excellent skillmonkey though, which is very nice for noncombat situations), feats are more nichey but can let you absolutely excel at whatever you choose to focus on (quick example: you can be an ace acrobat who gets the enemy's measure very early on [AKA Assessment], dazzles it by moving back and forth, to and fro, skipping and sliding [Acrobatic Feint], and then proceeds to hit hard and fast [All Out Power Attack with a Surge to attack again plus a couple Improved Critical feats to get that amazing +5 damage]), and powers will most likely work in tandem with decent base scores/a smattering of feats to make your character reach his PL caps. Keep in mind they're not exclusive: you can have a 20 DEX, 25 feats, and a Rank 7 Hard to Lose device on the same character, but if you gun for a 40 DEX, your options when it comes to feats and powers will force you to make sacrifices. Essentially, don't consider your focus something you absolutely must adhere to, but keep in mind that if you specialize in one area you'll probably have to cut back on the "nifty but not necessary" things.